Marvelous Middle Grade Monday
A Whale of the Wild (Greenwillow Books, 2020) by Rosanne Parry and illustrated by Lindsay Moore was such a moving story. And is a New York Times bestseller!
Told from alternating viewpoints of Vega and her little brother Deneb, it feels like we are right there in the ocean with these two young orca whales, experiencing the Pull and Push of the tide, the dark below water, the glow of the sunshine, and the hunger. Someday Vega will be a Wayfinder, who finds the salmon for the family. But not yet. Then an earth shake separates the two from the rest of the pod and Vega has to figure out how not only to find their way back to the pod, but feed her little brother, too.
The spot illustrations enhance the story. There’s also a bonus section in the back about orcas and other sea creatures.
Rosanne is the New York Times bestselling author of A Wolf Called Wander among other middle grade/young adult novels that you can read about here. Her next book is a picture book which you can check out here.
Lindsay is an author/illustrator. Check out some of her beautiful illustrations here and read about her here.
Sounds like a great book. The illustrations of polar bears on her website are wonderful. Happy MMGM to you.
I just found out the author and illustrator did research together.
I love whale stories and have studied them over the years. It is really serious for young whales to become lost from the pod and mama, because they learn everything they know to survive. Will be checking this out. There is a wonderful documentary on Prime Time or Hulu, that I found about how they moved Keiko (Free Willy movies) back to his home. He was never reunited with his family. But he was accepted by other pods, only to return to his handlers because he had such a strong bond with people. He was never completely self-sufficient.
So sad about Keiko. You’ll like the ending of this story.
Whales are such fascinating creatures. I’ve enjoyed Rosanne’s other books so I can’t wait to start reading this one. Thanks for the post and Happy MMGM!
Yes, she does a great job.
Whales are such interesting creatures. Love that cover! I will have to check this one out.
Yea!
Enjoy
I’ve heard good things about this author. This sounds like an interesting read about whales. I hope my library has this one.
Then try A WOLF CALLED WANDER by Rosanne.
I always wished I could think like one of the marvelous animals I’ve seen, but can’t do it even in fiction writing. Bravo to all who try. Sounds like Rosanne Parry succeeded. Brava!
She says she researched it for 3 years!
One of the best books I ever read was The Year of the Whale, and since then I have been fascinated by whiles. I will be looking for this book. Thanks for the review.
Hmm. I’ll have to check that one out.